The UAA transition guidance is finally available and I’m happy to report that in my opinion, the sky is not falling!!  We don’t have final regulations yet and until we do, nobody knows what is going to happen but here’s my take on the guidance we have thus far:

First- know this:  A competent authority means a court or governmental agency of a foreign-sending country having jurisdiction and authority to make decisions in matters of child welfare, including adoption.

Second- know this: The 6 adoption services are:

  1. Identifying a child for adoption and arranging an adoption;
  2. Securing the necessary consent to termination of parental rights and to adoption;
  3. Performing a background study on a child or a home study on a prospective adoptive parent(s), and reporting on such a study;
  4. Making non-judicial determinations of the best interests of a child and the appropriateness of an adoptive placement for the child;
  5. Monitoring a case after a child has been placed with prospective adoptive parent(s) until final adoption; or
  6. When necessary because of a disruption before final adoption, assuming custody and providing (including facilitating the provision of) child care or any other social service pending an alternative placement.  22 CFR 96.2 Definitions.

Let’s go back now to competent authority. Who is a competent authority in Pakistan (and just about every other Muslim country)? Answer: The Court and only the Court. Why? Because these countries do not have legislation that grants child placing authority to any entity? Why? Really, answering that question would require blog post of it’s own but the short answer is that they don’t share the western concept of adoption. E-mail me if you would like to hear the long answer. I love to talk about this stuff. I’ll respond. I promise.

But what about Edhi? Nope, sorry Mrs. Edhi!!  Edhi is not a competent authority authorized by the laws of Pakistan to place  children or make determinations about the best interests of a child, terminate parental rights or make child placements. It is a wonderful organization. Edhi is not a court or government agency with jurisdiction over children’s issues.

So we have concluded that only the Court is authorized by the laws of Pakistan to identify a child in need of a guardian (i.e. create a ward.); only the court may secure consents of the biological parents (legally at least); only a court may make determinations about what is in a child’s best interests and only a court may assume legal custody of the child for the purposes of instituting a guardianship.

Let’s take another look at those adoption services:

  1. Identifying a child for adoption and arranging an adoption- Pakistani Court is the only entity authorized to do this in Pakistan.
  2. Securing the necessary consent to termination of parental rights and to adoption;-Pakistani Court is the only entity authorized to do this in Pakistan.
  3. Performing a background study on a child or a home study on a prospective adoptive parent(s), and reporting on such a study; US home study agency will do this on adoptive parents.
  4. Making non-judicial determinations of the best interests of a child and the appropriateness of an adoptive placement for the child;- This is not done in Pakistan.
  5. Monitoring a case after a child has been placed with prospective adoptive parent(s) until final adoption; or- US home study Agency does this.
  6. When necessary because of a disruption before final adoption, assuming custody and providing (including facilitating the provision of) child care or any other social service pending an alternative placement.  22 CFR 96.2 Definitions. – Will not apply in most cases and only the Pakistani Court can determine best interests of a Ward and institute another guardian.

Now let’s take a look at individual cases. Here’s a short “rule of thumb” summary:

1. I-600A, I-600 and guardianship all done before July 2013- UAA does not apply.

2.  All adoption services occurred before July 2014- UAA does not apply.

3.  Adoption services provided after July of 2014. The UAA does apply. However; remember that adoption services provided by “a competent authority” are exempt and only the court is considered “a competent authority”  in Pakistan.  A primary provider is required in the United States but that primary provider is not responsible for any adoption service carried out by “the competent authority.” The primary provider will only be responsible for writing a case plan, doing a home study and doing any post placement work that’s required. No agency should have a problem with that. Give them my number if you encounter problems.

My final piece of advice is that guardianship orders must be carefully drafted in order to ensure smooth processing through USCIS.

E-mail me with questions:  [email protected]